Friday, 30 July 2010

Court Ruling Saves UKIP

The UK Independence Party does not have to forfeit all of the £367,697 'impermissible donation", the Supreme Court has ruled. UKIP received the money from a donor who was not on the electoral register.

The party was initially told to forfeit £14,481 but that was increased after the Electoral Commission took the case to the Appeal Court. UKIP's victory at the Supreme Court has saved it from potential bankruptcy and it represents a defeat for the Electoral Commission which was pressing the party to return the full amount donated by retired bookmaker Alan Bown.

Since 2003 Mr Bown has given more that £1m to UKIP to help it fight elections and mount campaigns against Britain's membership of the EU. Due to what the party say was a 'clerical error', between December 2004 and January 2006 he was not on the electoral register - making him an impermissible donor under UK electoral law. He did not discover the error until December 2005 and was reinstated the following February.

This year's general election cost the party £229,000 in lost deposits.